West Oz Longboard & SUP titles underway

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 February, 2014 - Summer conditions prevailed in Yallingup over the weekend as competitors were greeted with small surf and light winds for the opening event of the Health Insurance Fund of Australia (HIF) WA Longboard & SUP Titles presented by SunSmart.

The iconic and time-honored Yallingup Mainbreak hosted over 130 of the states best longboard and SUP talent who contested a total of seventeen separate divisions in a marathon weekend of surfing.

The great beach weather saw a strong turnout of supporters and spectators soak up the festival style atmosphere on offer and watch some of the state's most accomplished competitors shine.

Multiple longboard state champion Rahn Goddard (City Beach) made a welcome return to competition surfing at Yallingup, dominating the blue ribbon Open Men's division. Goddard's mix of traditional nose rides and critical rail turns saw him stamp his authority early and build momentum on each wave ridden in the final. The goofy footer scored a heat high 7.75 (from a possible 10) and backed it up with a 6.80 to finish on a combined total of 14.55 points (from a possible 20), marking his return to the WA longboard community.

Goddard finished ahead of Yallingup local Brett Mason in second, Mark Mattisons (Cottesloe) in third ahead of Nick Jenkins (Mandurah) in fourth.

The win was Goddard's first since 2012 and he was clearly elated with his performance over the weekend. "It's always great to score fun waves at Yallingup," Goddard said. "These event are really important to me and I hope to be around for the next two events."

Current longboard Australian champion Georgia Young (Swanbourne), put up a gutsy performance to takeout the Open Women's division. Following Goddard's theory, it was Young's mix of traditional and modern manoeuvres that saw her secure victory with a 13.75 comnbined total. Rachel Dawe (Lancelin) performed well to finish in second, while emerging shortboard talent's Denver Young (Cottesloe) and Emi Campbell (Denmark) proved handy on their longboards too, placing third and fourth respectively.

"These events have done so much for my career, it was great to be pushed by some younger girls coming through the ranks," Young said who will travel to Thailand to contest a specialty longboard event.

Considered to be one of the fastest growing segments of the sport, stand up paddleboarding or SUP provided many of the weekend's highlights with Gracetown brothers Rick and Jake Jackovich unstoppable.

The duo won all their heats on route to the finals where they went head to head in the blue ribbon Open Men's final. Jake was in blistering form, opening the with a near perfect 9.00 point ride and was then able to back it up on his final wave with a 6.75. Despite his best efforts, Rick Jackovich had to settle for second ahead of Brett Mason (Yallingup) and Ben Mardon (Geraldton).

"Im stoked to have such a solid SUP event series here in WA," Jakovich said. "It's always good to test yourself and I was surprised by the depth of competitors we have in the West."

Rick Jakovich used the Open Men's result as motivation, as he went on to score the event's only perfect 10 point ride and win the O/40 SUP division. Jakovich earned the 'HIF Wave of the Weekend' for his perfect ride and is motivated to get back to the SUP Nationals in Queensland in November.

"After making the finals in Currumbin last year, I'm definitely keen to contest the Open's and the over 40's in 2014," said Jakovich.

Tim Calder (Yallingup) and Megan Turnball (Margaret River) won the remaining SUP divisions, the O/50 Men and Open Women's respectively. Nick Jenkins (Mandurah) won a talent packed O/35 Master Men's and Sam Vanderford (Scarborough) was too good in the O/35 Master Women's.

Regional surfers dominated all other results with South-West locals showing their knowledge of the break, with surfers from Yallingup and Margaret River proving tough to beat.

Yallingup local Karl Leavey won the O/40 Senior Masters division in a close result from longboard stallwart Kevin Anderson (North Fremantle). Adam Lane (Yallingup) won the O/45 Grand Masters, Kingsley Schilling (Gerladton) won the O50 Legends, and Bill Gibson (Margaret River) won the O55 Kahunas.

One of Yallingup's finest, Bob Monkman put in a timeless performance to win the O/60 Men's division while Albany's Tony Harrison won the O/65 division. U16 shortboard national champion Emi Campbell (Denmark) joined Jack Medland (Carine) to win the U18 junior girls and boys division, with Lancelin's Hiugh Mitchell successful in the U21 Pro Junior division.

After a hugely successful start to the 2014 HIF State Longboard and SUP Titles, all eyes are now turned towards round two of competition which will head south to Denmark on the 3rd – 4th May. The event is set to showcase the surf rich south coast with competitors hopeful the location serves up some quality surf.